Saturday, May 3, 2008

Epilepsy Drug Dilantin May Speed Bone Loss

Researchers report that young women taking the epilepsy drug Dilantin may risk bone loss and fracture with long-term use.

In a recent study, researchers followed 93 premenopausal women (age 18-40) taking one of four different epilepsy drugs: carbamazepine (also known with brand names Tegretol and Carbatrol), lamotrigine (Lamictal), valproate (Depakene), and Dilantin, for one year. Bone mineral density of the spine and two areas of the hip (femoral neck and total hip) were measured at the start and end of the study.

The results, published in Neurology, showed that women taking Dilantin experienced an average of 2.6% bone loss in the femoral neck only. No significant bone loss was found among those taking the other three epilepsy drugs.

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